I blog because..

I have tried to stay regularly involved with The Daily Post which is really helpful to bloggers like me who are trying to improve on their skills on the web — be it photography, writing, web design or networking. I haven’t been able to post as regularly based on their prompts of late, but I definitely recommend that you pay them a visit if you are not familiar.

I am subscribed to the daily prompts and the idea is to write a post and tag yourself in a comment following the post, so that you and other like-minded bloggers can give their two cents’ worth on the subject matter. There are times when the prompts are very easy to write about like today. The question is, Why do you blog?

.. it helps me to chronicle not just my every day, but the thoughts and feelings that visit my mind and heart, and doing so enables me to see the world around me more clearly. I have been blogging for 11 years now and it is always a journey to go back to older posts or even last week’s. Be it to remember or look back or relive something that had come to pass, my life in words has been a way for me to reflect on what I have and what I once had. Those times I look forward and instead dwell on what I want to do or plan to do, writing about how those plans are going or have changed keep me on the path I want to take.

.. I like to remember the things that made an impact on my life — people, places, things and feelings. It can be something as simple as a beautiful sunset that just had me mesmerized at the end of the day. Or the imposing Manhattan skyline that I say goodnight to as I head home. They remind me of where I am and of how precious it is to take the moment to stop and look and just breathe. I write about them or use that snapshot as a reminder of that moment, and even if I don’t go back to that post until years later, when I do, the feelings come back and I get to relive that happy thought or awesome point in time I just said wow.

.. I believe that we all learn from one another, and my experiences and thoughts can help someone as other people’s words have helped me. I get many inquiries about law school and dreams about being a lawyer — proof of which is that my most read posts are those relating to this topic. That was one big part of my life that I had lived through and had left behind, but whose lessons have enriched me in ways beyond learning about the law. I am happy to have helped others who had questions that needed answering — perhaps a simple prod to go after one’s dream like I did. I have met people in real life who have stumbled upon my little corner of the blogsphere, and I have been enriched with those interactions in ways I cannot count.

.. it helps me think out loud, and listen to my inner voice better. That’s the reason why one of my most robust categories in this blog is “Just Me Thinking Online”, which, as of this writing has 365 posts under it. It really is as random as it sounds — it’s not about anything in particular — just me speaking my mind out. And I think we often forget there’s that inner voice inside us. We often fail to listen to the one authority on us that we should really pay mind to: ourselves. We get caught up with listening to everyone else but the heart that matters — because we think we should be last. One of the most impactful lessons I’ve learned in the recent years is that that is one of the biggest mistakes we can make: to forget that we should take care of ourselves, too. We have to trust that we have the inner wisdom to know what is best for us, even when it’s not that easy a thing to do.

I have always said that I blog for very selfish reasons — I blog for me, myself and I. That others find my words worth reading is a nice pat on the back, but it won’t stop me from writing as I write now, or prod me to go in another direction. There is writing just to write– and that’s why I’m here. That’s the reason this blog has existed and will continue to exist for as long as I can spew out the words that find themselves online.